Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala Part 6

According to a recent discovery, which has been confirmed by subsequent observation and experiment, wheat is a development by cultivation of the tiny grain of the _aegilops ovata_, a sort of gra.s.s; but we are indebted to Rabbinic lore for the curious information that before the Fall of man wheat grew upon a tree whose trunk looked like gold, its branches like silver, and its leaves like so many emeralds. The wheat ears themselves were as red as rubies, and each bore five sparkling grains as white as snow, as sweet as honey, and as fragrant as musk. At first the grains were as big as an ostrich's egg, but in the time of Enoch they diminished to the size of a goose's egg, and in Elijah's to that of a hen, while at the commencement of the common era, they shrank so small as not to be larger than grapes, according to a law the inverse of the order of nature. Rabbi Yehudah (_Sanhedrin_, fol. 70, col. 1) says that wheat was the forbidden fruit. Hence probably the degeneracy.

Of two that quarrel, the one that first gives in shows the n.o.bler nature.

Ibid., fol. 71, col. 2.

He who sets aside a portion of his wealth for the relief of the poor will be delivered from the judgment of h.e.l.l. Of this the parable of the two sheep that attempted to ford a river is an ill.u.s.tration; one was shorn of its wool and the other not; the former, therefore, managed to get over, but the latter, being heavy-laden, sank.

_Gittin_, fol. 7, col. 1.

Zoreah and Eshtaol (Josh. xv. 33) were two large mountains, but Samson tore them up and grated the one against the other.

_Soteh_, fol. 9, col. 2.

The above tradition is founded on Judges xiii. 25, in which it is said of Samson, "And the spirit of G.o.d began to move him at times in the camp of Dan, between Zoreah and Eshtaol," in which the word "move," signifies also to "strike a stroke," "step a step," and "once." Founding on which last two meanings, Rabbi Yehudah says, "Samson strode in one stride from Zoreah to Eshtaol," a giant stride of two miles or more. Taking the word in the sense of "strike," or "producing a ringing sound,"

another Rabbi tells us that the hairs of Samson's head stood upright, tinkling one against another like bells, the jingle of which might be heard from Zoreah to Eshtaol. The version in the text takes the same word in the sense of to "strike together."

On the day when Isaac was weaned, Abraham made a great feast, to which he invited all the people of the land. Not all of those who came to enjoy the feast believed in the alleged occasion of its celebration, for some said contemptuously, "This old couple have adopted a foundling, and provided a feast to persuade us to believe that the child is their own offspring." What did Abraham do? He invited all the great men of the day, and Sarah invited their wives, who brought their infants, but not their nurses, along with them. On this occasion Sarah's b.r.e.a.s.t.s became like two fountains, for she supplied, of her own body, nourishment to all the children. Still some were unconvinced, and said, "Shall a child be born to one that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?" (Gen. xvii. 17.) Whereupon, to silence this objection, Isaac's face was changed, so that it became the very picture of Abraham's; then one and all exclaimed, "Abraham begat Isaac."

_Bara Metzia_, fol. 87, col. 1.

Rava relates the following in the name of Rabbi Yochanan:--"Two Jewish slaves were one day walking along, when their master, who was following, overheard the one saying to the other, 'There is a camel ahead of us, as I judge--for I have not seen--that is blind of one eye and laden with two skin-bottles, one of which contains wine and the other oil, while two drivers attend it, one of them an Israelite, and the other a Gentile.' 'You perverse men,' said their master, 'how can you fabricate such a story as that?' The slave answered, and gave this as his reason, 'The gra.s.s is cropped only on one side of the track, the wine, that must have dripped, has soaked into the earth on the right, and the oil has trickled down, and may be seen on the left; while one of the drivers turned aside from the track to ease himself, but the other has not even left the road for the purpose.' Upon this the master stepped on before them in order to verify the correctness of their inferences, and found the conclusion true in every particular. He then turned back, and ...

after complimenting the two slaves for their shrewdness, he at once gave them their liberty."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 104, col. 2.

When the disciples of Shamai and Hillel increased in Israel, contention increased along with them, so much so, that the one law became as two laws (and these contradictory).

_Soteh_, fol. 47, col. 2.

If two parties deposit money with a third, one a single manah and the other two hundred, and both afterward appear and claim the larger sum, the depositary should give each depositor one manah only, and leave the rest undivided till the coming of Elijah.

_Bava Metzia_, fol. 37, col. 2.

"Till Elijah comes" is a phrase which is in use among the Jews to express postponement forever, like _ad Kalendas Graecas_. It is applied to questions that would take Elijah to settle, which, it is believed, he will not appear to do till doomsday.

"And I will make thy windows of agates" (Isa. liv. 12). Two of the angels in heaven, Gabriel and Michael, once disputed about this: one maintained that the stone should be an onyx, and the other a.s.serted it should be a jasper; but the Holy One--blessed be He!--said unto them, "Let it be as both say, which, in Hebrew, abbreviated, is an agate."

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 75, col. 1.

"The horseleech has two daughters, crying, Give! give!" (Prov. x.x.x. 15.) Mar Ukva says, "This has reference to the voice of two daughters crying out from torture in h.e.l.l, because their voice is heard in this world crying, 'Give! give!'--namely--heresy and officialism."

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 17, col. 1.

Rashi says heresy here refers to the "heresy of James," or, in other words, Christianity.

Two cemeteries were provided by the judicial authorities, one for beheaded and strangled criminals, and the other for those that were stoned or burned. When the flesh of these was consumed, they collected the bones and buried them in their own place, after which the relations came and saluted the judge and the witnesses, and said, "We owe you no grudge, for you pa.s.sed a just judgment."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 46, col. 1.

Alas! for the loss which the world has sustained in the degradation of the helpful serpent. If the serpent had not been degraded, every Israelite would have been attended by two of kindly disposition, one of which might have been sent to the north, and the other to the south, to bring for its owner precious corals and costly stones and pearls.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 59, col. 2.

Here are two or three other sayings from the Talmud relative to the serpent.

Benjamin the son of Jacob, Amram the father of Moses, and Jesse the father of David all died, not because of their own sin (for they had none, says Rashi), but because of the (original) sin committed under the serpent's temptation.

_Shabbath_, fol. 55, col. 2.

No man was ever injured by a serpent or scorpion in Jerusalem.

_Yoma_, fol. 21, col. 1.

"And dust is the serpent's food" (Isa. lxv. 25). Rav Ammi says, "To the serpent no delicacy in the world has any other flavor than that of dust;" and Rav a.s.si says, "No delicacy in the world satisfies him like dust."

Ibid., fol. 75, col. 1.

Two negatives or two affirmatives are as good as an oath.

_Shevuoth_, fol. 36, col. 1.

Like two pearls were the two drops of holy oil that were suspended from the two corners of the beard of Aaron.

_Horayoth_, fol. 12, col. 1.

For two to sit together and have no discourse about the law, is to sit in the seat of the scornful; as it is said (Ps. i. I), "And sitteth not in the seat of the scornful."

_Avoth_, chap. iii.

When two are seated together at table, the younger shall not partake before the elder, otherwise the younger shall be justly accounted a glutton.

_Derech Eretz_, chap. vii.

Philemo once asked Rabbi (the Holy), "If a man has two heads, on which is he to put the phylactery?" To which Rabbi replied, "Either get up and be off, or take an anathema; for thou art making fun of me."

_Menachoth_, fol. 37, col. 1.

It is thus Rav Yoseph taught what is meant when it is written in Isaiah xii. I, "I will praise Thee, O Lord, because Thou wast angry with me: Thine anger will depart and Thou wilt comfort me." "The text applies,"

he says, "to two men who were going abroad on a mercantile enterprise, one of whom, having had a thorn run into his foot, had to forego his intended journey, and began in consequence to utter reproaches and blaspheme. Having afterward learned that the ship in which his companion had sailed had sunk to the bottom of the sea, he confessed his shortsightedness and praised G.o.d for His mercy."

_Niddah_, fol. 31, col. 1.

The night is divided into three watches, and at each watch the Holy One--blessed be He!--sits and roars like a lion; as it is written (Jer.

xxv. 30), "The Lord will roar from on high, ... roaring, He will roar over his habitation." The marks by which this division of the night is recognized are these:--In the first watch the a.s.s brays; in the second the dog barks; and in the third the babe is at the breast and the wife converses with her husband.

_Berachoth_, fol. 3, col. 1.

The Rabbis have taught that there are three reasons why a person should not enter a ruin:--1. Because he may be suspected of evil intent; 2.

Because the walls might tumble upon him; 3. And because of evil spirits that frequent such places.